"Obviously they had a lot of shots, but they were a lot of perimeter shots and I think the guys were doing a great job clearing the net."
Still soaked in sweat, that was Tristan Jarry downplaying the opposition's ability to create chances in the Penguins' 6-1 victory over the Kings here at PPG Paints Arena Thursday night.
It hasn't even been a year and a half since Jarry's postseason implosion against the Islanders that had many (fairly) wondering how he could possibly come back and be "the guy" in goal after one of the worst Stanley Cup playoff rounds by a goalie in the modern era.
But Ron Hextall gave a vote of confidence to Jarry, and he came right back the next season with a strong performance throughout the regular season, only to lose his shot at redemption in the playoffs due to a broken foot.
Now in the final season of his contract, Jarry has played better and better in each of his three starts.
Jarry turned aside 39 of 40 shots from the Kings on Thursday. The only shot that got past him was a result of a cross-ice pass hitting something out front and completely changing direction to an unmarked Carl Grundstrom that Jarry really didn't have much of a chance on.
While Jarry was right that the Kings took quite a few low-danger shot attempts from the perimeter, they did just fine getting to the net-front for quality looks, he was just up to the task:
Evolving-Hockey.com
Squares are unblocked shot attempts. Yellow = goal, green = on target, orange = miss. Squares are scaled to their expected goal (xG) value. Bigger = higher probability of becoming a goal.
Jarry saved 2.85 goals above expected against the Kings, bringing his total on the season to 3.62 goals saved above expected through three starts, per Evolving-Hockey. He stopped 11 of 12 high-danger shots, including this chance halfway through the first period from Brendan Lemieux:
It's subtle here, but you can tell Jarry's anticipation is on point just by the way he reacted to the puck being worked below the goal line.
"I just want to get better every year. Every year I want to be able to take a step and every year I come in I’m a little bit more mature," Jarry said. "Every year I have more games under me, so I think just being able to start and knowing what to expect, I think it does nothing but help."
All but one of the five goals Jarry has given up this season have been of the high-danger variety. He's essentially stopping everything he needs to, and then some. He now boasts a 3-0-0 record with a sparkling .952 save percentage and 1.67 goals against average. The latter two marks are good for second among all NHL starting goalies.
The Penguins didn't get off to a great start in this game and it forced Jarry to be dialed-in early. It had less to do with the Penguins playing poor defensive hockey and more to do with their inability to exit the zone, transition up ice, or sustain any sort of pressure at the other end of the ice.
"I thought Tristan was a big part of it," Sullivan said of the Penguins weathering the storm early on and coming out on the right side of things. "I thought we got outplayed in the first half of that first period. Tristan made some big saves. We were able to get a lead, but I think Tristan was a big part of it, for sure, early in the game.”
The most dangerous shot Jarry faced in the first period was likely the one above from Lemieux, but what really stood out was the ease with which Jarry was making his saves look. That's a compliment of the highest order for a goalie. While the Penguins struggled to find their flow, there Jarry was calming things down with his demeanor.
"I just thought they were quicker to pucks," Sullivan said of the Kings. "We didn’t make the plays on the wall on the breakout that, normally, when we’re at our best, we’re executing those wall plays that help us get out of our end. Give L.A. credit, they did a real job with their pinches down the walls, keeping pucks alive, and they forced us to have to defend. I thought we defended hard, but certainly we defended more often than we would’ve liked. But that’s an important part of winning. You’re not always going to have momentum."
Another important part of winning is having someone you can rely on in the crease to make things a bit more steady when you don't have momentum, exactly as Jarry did in this game.
When Jarry has struggled throughout his career, the biggest factor has been a tendency to sink into his crease either more than he should, or simply sinking sooner than he should. This exposes more of the net for the shooter to target, which obviously doesn't bode well for his chances of stopping the puck. This is typically a sign of a lack of confidence.
Inversely, a goalie coming out to the top of the crease to challenge the shooter and cut down the angle is a sign of confidence.
Here's how Jarry played a two-on-one rush during the second period. I'll let you be the judge of which category he falls under here:
With a slim likelihood of a cross-ice pass being completed, Jarry stood right out on top of the blue paint, square to the puck carrier, and he did not budge an inch. An even better sign is that the rebound Jarry allowed plopped back out directly in front of him while he was still square, rather than the puck being kicked out to the other side of the ice with the net yawning.
Just a few moments later while the Kings were on the power play, Jarry made a nice recovery save on a one-timer after dropping into the butterfly before the shot came, once again keeping the rebound in a manageable area and ultimately getting a whistle:
I don't consider myself nearly as well versed on goaltending as I am the rest of the sport, but another encouraging element to Jarry's game right now is the lack of unnecessary movement in his motions. Unlike Jonathan Quick, who was flopping all over the place and seemingly coughing up a juicy rebound with every shot, Jarry's movement was quick, quiet and tidy.
Just take a look at his work on this save against Adrian Kempe in the third period:
I wasn't able to find a clip as it might've happened out of frame, but during the third period Jarry gave a nasty whack into the leg of Lemieux with his paddle as Lemieux battled for positioning at the net-front. Jarry also got riled up in a post-whistle skirmish around his net, pushing and shoving the Kings players converging on him as his Penguins teammates came to shut that down quickly.
This feistiness is something we're seeing more and more of from Jarry. He's always been very laid back and rather quiet, so it really is a sight to behold seeing him get fired up out on the ice.
"Yeah, I think it keeps me engaged," Jarry responded when asked if he gets some enjoyment out of that element of the game. "I think it’s something that keeps me focused and keeps me into the game. It does nothing but heighten your awareness and I think it’s something that I like to have a little edge."
One of our subscribers summed it up best in the live file after the game: It's hard to say a goalie stole a game for you when you score six, but in this case ...
There's a long, long road ahead before we can start having legitimate discussions as to what Jarry's true standing is among NHL goalies, and even then it might not matter until we see him back for a full postseason round, but until then, the Penguins have to be encouraged with Jarry's start to the season, including his quiet confidence.
